


and i'm terrified (but i can't resist)

by blushandbooks



Series: Julie and the Phantoms Appreciation Week 2020 [1]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, but he will get redemption bc he's the loml and a true gem at heart, carrie and alex best friend rights!!!!!, he's just dumb sometimes :), julie is a queen!!!!! but when is she not!!!!!, luke might be an asshole
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:02:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27370870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blushandbooks/pseuds/blushandbooks
Summary: JatP Appreciation Week Day 2 Prompt: Write an AU.High School AU in which Sunset Curve needs a place to rehearse, and Julie Molina has one -- but her and Luke might not be the best of friends. So, he devises a not-very-smart master plan to get Sunset Curve in that studio: Romance Julie a little bit, get on her good side, and wait until the perfect time to ask for the rehearsal space. Do Alex and Reggie think it's a good idea? No. Is he going to do it anyways? Yes.There are many flaws to the plan, but the biggest one is probably the fact that he doesn't know the circumstances under which Julie has a vacant music studio. All he knows is that he wants in, and he'll do whatever he needs to get it.
Relationships: Alex & Carrie Wilson, Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Series: Julie and the Phantoms Appreciation Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1999300
Comments: 74
Kudos: 249





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first fic for Jatp Appreciation Week!!! I'll be doing as much as I can for this and be pumping out a lot of my drafts as a way to celebrate this week. This fic will definitely be multi-chapter, which is a huge animal to take on, and it might sit at one or two chapters for awhile when I'm working on other projects. 
> 
> Title from Finally // Beautiful Stranger by my girl Halsey. Enjoy!!

If the teeth marks on his guitar pick were any indication -- Luke Patterson was in deep distress.

"What are we gonna do now?"

"I don't know, Reg."

"We don't have anywhere else to-"

"Yeah, _no shit,_ Reg!" 

Reggie and Alex flinch at his sharp tone. They all were seated in the bustling Los Feliz High School cafeteria, but their current dilemma was making their surroundings seem like white noise. 

Just three hours ago, the fourth member of Sunset Curve -- the literal garage band started by Luke, Reggie, Alex and Bobby after meeting in the music program -- had decided to make a less than peaceful exit from the group and take their only rehearsal space with him. Bobby's mom was the only Sunset Curve parent who fully supported her son's endeavors; with Mitch and Emily Patterson wanting their son to take over the family business, Reggie's roommate parents more focused on their hate for one another than their son's activities, and Alex's cool-until-they-weren't, homophobic family suddenly turned off by him spending hours a week with a group of  _ guys _ , their band never really had a place to take off. 

"Luke, dude, we can just use one of the music rooms here until we figure this out." Alex, ever the level head of the band, tries to add a solution. Luke shakes his head while Reggie is left to watch their interaction like a spectator in one of his parents' feuds.

"That's for actual school use, Alex. You know I'm the first one to try and break a rule, but we also know that we'd get caught before the first chorus to Now Or Never."

Alex falls silent. No matter how much Luke can be a dumbass sometimes, he can be smart when it counts. 

"Well, we know we'll figure it out, right?" Reggie pipes in, hopeful. "It'll all be fine."

At his sentimental tone, Luke's face softens. He reaches out to pat his best friend on the shoulder while exchanging a certain glance with Alex.

"Of course, buddy. We'll get it figured out. Who do we-"

A piercing school bell cuts him off from continuing. 

"Shit," Luke sighs. "That went by so fast."

"As it does every day," Reggie reminds him. "We just enjoy it too much."

They have their next class all together: Music with Miss Harrison. Luke turns himself around to walk backwards as they make their way down the hallway, with the kind of cocky confidence where he believes that his peers will naturally part to make way for him.

"After school today, boys, let's meet at the pier and start brainstorming plans of atta-"

His sentence stutters to an end as he walks directly into somebody outside of the music room, and almost falls completely on top of them. He spins around to see who didn't make way for King Luke:

"Shit, sorry- _Julie_." He tenses at the sight of her. 

"Other people use hallways, you know. Making sure you don't hit anyone is a two way street between their self-awareness and yours."

Julie Molina was an infuriatingly beautiful girl who he had accidentally made an enemy of after many botched interactions. If you asked Luke, he would resent the accusation that any of his attempts to talk to her were his poor ways of flirting -- but Alex and Reggie know that they definitely were. 

_ (Backstory: On the first day of music class, Luke may have pressured her a little too much into trying out the open mic opportunity that Miss Harrison had presented to anyone feeling particularly confident in sharing their talents with the class because he thought she was cute -- and Julie curled into herself like a sea anemone. In his head, they would have started playful banter and she would have sang to spite him, but it only ended up leaving a bad taste in her mouth whenever his name was on her lips. Since then, every time he tries to talk to her, he sounds like an asshole.) _

"Well I am completely self-aware, Miss Molina. I am aware that I'm walking down the hallway and that I am purposely walking backwards which means everyone else should have increased awareness for my safety."

"Oh, to imagine myself as the only person in the world who existed and not care about the safety of others. What's that like?"

"Oh, to imagine myself as the queen of common sense and act like I'm above my classmates. How's that for you?"

She looks armed with a biting response, but the second bell that notifies everyone that class is officially in session prevents her from continuing as Miss Harrison kicks things off. Julie settles for a simple annoyed glare instead, and the slight smile on Luke's lips afterwards goes unnoticed. 

A moment of silence falls among the students as they answer a quick writing prompt in their music journals. Luke isn't trying to eavesdrop -- the room is so quiet, the sound goes to his ears involuntarily -- but he hears Julie talking to her best friend, Flynn, anyways. 

"They what?"

"They want me to clean out the studio."

_ Studio? _ He better not get his hopes up. It could mean many different things. 

"Jesus, Jules. But you haven't been in there forever. Are they going to help?"

"No. According to her, it's something I should be doing on my own. It'll help with the moving on, or something."

"That's mad unfair. Have you told them you don't want to?" 

"Multiple times. But according to Dr. Turner, I’m supposed to push through the pain and ‘find myself again.’ It’s like she thinks I’m going to spend five minutes in there and then start playing the piano like I never stopped.”

_ Stopped?  _ But they’re in a literal music class. How did he not notice that Julie hasn’t been performing? Didn’t she- Last week-

Luke’s memory draws a blank. Maybe Julie hadn’t been performing after all. 

His concern goes from that to focusing on her mention of a piano -- does that mean she’s got a music studio? A music studio that Sunset Curve could use? It’s like a golden opportunity just fell into his lap. 

“Boys,” he whispers to his friends with anticipation, “I think I may have found us a studio.”

\--

_ “Julie Molina?”  _ Alex and Reggie practically scream the girl’s name in unison. Luckily, they aren't at school anymore, and the sound of their voices gets carried away by the coastal breeze blowing through the pier. “You cannot be serious, dude,” Alex continues as they stop at the railing, rest their skateboards against it, and clutch their after-school coffees. 

“I’m very serious! What’s wrong with Julie?”

“Nothing, except the fact that she  _ hates _ you.” 

“She doesn’t ‘hate’ me! We’ve just had some-”

“Fights?” Reggie interrupts.

“Friendly disagreements,” Luke finishes, suddenly snarky. The blonde drummer rolls his eyes -- there’s no way that any of this would work out. Julie Molina would laugh in their face. “Besides, you act like I don’t know she’s not my biggest fan. I have a plan, you guys.”

“Oh, can’t wait to hear this,” Alex quips, overenthusiastic. Luke, clearly very proud of whatever he’s about to tell them, takes a large swig of his coffee and looks out onto the Pacific. 

“I’m gonna get her to go out with me,” he finally says. Reggie and Alex both look at their shaggy-haired companion, and then each other, and burst out laughing. Random passersby on the pier give them curious looks as they stroll past the trio. 

“That was a good one, dude! Now what’s your actual solution?” Reggie asks. 

“That is my actual solution,” Luke deadpans. Reggie looks to Alex, panicked. 

“Are you on crack? Is that what you smoke? You smoke crack? If you walk up to Julie and ask her out she’ll laugh in your face and walk away. Besides, isn’t it a little -- oh, I don’t know --  _ cruel _ to play with somebody like that?”

Luke huffs and dramatically turns around to walk towards a garbage can and throw his empty coffee cup away while Alex loudly declares everything wrong with the idea. He just isn’t a visionary like Luke is. 

“I’m not just walking up to her and asking her out, Alex. I’m gonna, you know, flirt with her a bit, let her get to know me, get us in her studio, take her on a date or a few, and then nicely say ‘I don’t think this is working out.’ By then, we’ll have a locked-in rehearsal space and we won’t have to worry.”

“Okay, but I’m with Alex,” Reggae starts, voice heavy with doubt. “Isn’t that kinda mean?”

“It’s not gonna be mean, dude. You act like she’s going to fall in love with me in a day. I get that you both think I’m irresistible, but Julie’s a tough nut to crack. I’ll slowly work my way in, and then slowly work my way out. No harm, no foul.”

“This sounds like plenty of harm, plenty of foul, actually.” Alex hisses in Luke’s ear as he walks past the guitarist to throw away his own coffee. “But you’re really not going to listen to us, are you?”

“No I am not. Because this is going to work. You’ll see.”

With that, Luke Patterson snatches his skateboard from against the railing, gives his bandmates a two-finger salute, and skates away with pride. 

Alex would like to strike his previous statement from the record: Luke Patterson is never smart when it counts. He actually, in fact, gets dumber as the situation increases in importance. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke is given the perfect opportunity to act on his plan with Julie -- but she's not too happy about any of it.

Julie Molina did not hold hate for very many people. She didn’t even hate Luke Patterson -- well, she kind of did, but only sometimes. If you asked her why she disliked him so strongly, she would remind everyone of how he pushed her buttons so soon after her mom’s passing, but Flynn, her best friend, would jump in and say it’s because he ended up being kind of a dick after Julie spent two weeks of school thinking he was hot. 

But what does Flynn know?

_ (Backstory: Julie’s mom, Rose, died in December of last year, when Julie was a sophomore. Because the music program at their school was so big, the members were split into two back-to-back class periods. Luke had fourth period, right after her third, and would often come into the music room and see her playing the piano and messing around with Flynn. She thought he was so cute -- until winter break went by, her mother passed, and second semester hit like a truck in the form of him switching into her class. On the first day of the new semester, Miss Harrison tried to initiate the icebreaker performance that she did every semester, and Luke totally egged her on to do it. She refused, more vehemently as he became more insistent, and they never had a normal conversation since. Like, seriously, who pushes a girl into doing something she’s not comfortable with after her mom just died? _ Prick _.) _

Anyway, back to the present day: Julie’s disdain for Luke Patterson has healed marginally since then -- they’re juniors now, in fifth period music. Every time the hate scabs over, he seems to do something that rips the wound open again, like running into her in the halls and then having the nerve to say  _ she _ has a superiority complex.

It didn’t help that her dad and aunt had corralled her that morning to hint that she should try cleaning out her mom’s garage. 

“That’s mad unfair,” her best friend hisses in her ear while they are having silent work time. “Have you told them you don’t want to?”

There’s an unshakeable feeling that someone is watching them, but Julie ignores it.

“Multiple times. But according to Dr. Turner, I’m supposed to push through the pain and ‘find myself again.’ It’s like she thinks I’m going to spend five minutes in there and then start playing the piano like I never stopped.”

As Flynn makes a comment about how Julie needs to switch therapists, the Latina hears one Luke Patterson, who is sitting right behind her, whisper something unintelligible to his friends.

She prays that he wasn’t listening in on her conversation. If she finds out he was, well -- there will be hell to pay. 

\---

Julie’s week gets worse -- so much worse -- before it gets any better.

Two days later, she’s in music class again, and Luke is sitting behind her like always (unfortunately) and Miss Harrison is standing in front of the class, bouncing on the balls of her feet. There’s a big announcement coming. 

“Good morning, everyone,” she begins, anticipation evident in her voice. “We are now in the beginning of December, and first semester will end shortly after Winter Break, which means it is time for me to introduce your final project.” As gasps raise and excitement builds, Miss Harrison gestures for them to calm down. “This semester, I’m shaking it up a little. This will be a partner project. You can pick your partners--” The class bounces their legs and leans forward in their seats, “but it cannot be the same partner you had for the Music History presentation during midterms.”

Some people deflate; some remain excited. 

Since Luke is behind her, Julie doesn’t see the way that he begins to stare intently at the back of her head and grin. 

“I want this project to be a chance for you all to learn about yourselves and each other, musically. I’m calling this the ‘Perfect Harmony’ Performance. You and your partner will take one of your favorite songs each -- so, two songs -- and make what you guys would call a mash-up. Singing is not required, but so many of you have beautiful voices that I encourage you to share.”

If Miss Harrison is staring directly at Julie when she announces that last sentence, she pretends not to notice. 

“You’ll use your chief instruments, obviously, to do this, and perform it for the class during finals week. You will have to turn in the sheet music that you created for the mashup, not two separate files of sheet music for each individual song. You will have some class time to work on this, but I am also giving you more than a month’s notice, so I would expect some outside-of-school collaboration as well.”

If Julie wasn’t instantly turned off by this project by the fact that she can’t partner with Flynn -- unfortunately, they jumped at each other to partner up for the Music History project -- the rest of this project gets more and more unappealing the longer that Miss Harrison goes over it. 

_ No Flynn? Bad. _

_ Working outside of school? Worse. Exhausting.  _

_ Performing at the end of the semester? Impossible.  _

Miss Harrison is Julie’s favorite teacher, but damn; she’s losing brownie points and she is losing them fast.

“This project will count for 15% of your final grade,” the music teacher finishes off, and Julie uses every atom of will power in her body not to hit herself in the head with her binder and scream. How is she going to do this? She’s been set up to fail. Maybe she can talk to Miss Harrison about alternatives.

Who the hell is she even supposed to work with?  _ Carrie? _ They haven’t spoken in over a year. 

A small piece of paper from Flynn lands on top of Julie’s journal. In her loopy scrawl, it reads:

_ U gonna ask nick?? ;P _

Oh.  _ Oh. _ There’s an idea. 

Nick Danforth-Evans is only the guy that Julie has had a thing for for a very, very long time -- third grade to sixth grade (with a small blip in middle school when no one was cute anymore) and ninth grade to present. He was obviously partnered with his girlfriend and Julie’s ex-friend, Carrie, for the Music History project; making him the perfect target for this project. 

_ Every cloud has a silver lining _ , as her mom used to say. Maybe this is it. 

“As soon as I say go, you can find your partners. Once you’re all set, come to me so I can write down who is working with who and you can sign up for your performance day. Does anyone have any questions?”

Julie looks anxiously over at her blonde-haired object of affection, who shakes his head in response to Miss Harrison’s question. 

_ You can do this,  _ she thinks.  _ Just go ask him.  _

“Okay, no questions… You are free to partner up!”

The class erupts in chatter and everybody stands up to track down their partner and claim them before anybody else can. Julie hesitates, watching Nick scan the room aimlessly while his girlfriend approaches one of her other best friends in the class, Alex. Taking a deep breath, she braces the sides of her chair, about to hoist herself up when--

“Hey, Miss Molina.” 

Panic levels spike in Julie’s brain.  _ Please, God, not him _ . 

He takes creative liberty in moving Flynn’s backpack and sitting in her chair, legs dropping down the side instead of the front so that he can be facing Julie. She glances between the cocky brunette and the kind blonde, only to be hit with the disappointment that Nick is talking to some other guy in their class. Her options are dwindling fast. 

_ And just when she thought this project couldn’t be any more unappealing.  _

“What do you want?” She deadpans to Luke. His smile only widens. 

“I was wondering if you’d like to partner up.”

_ Oh, God, how badly she doesn’t want to _ \-- she knows Carrie is taken, but she would rather subject herself to that wrath than suffer through a project with Luke. 

“Isn’t there someone in your little boy band who can be your partner instead?”

“Well, I mean, Reggie was disappointed when I told him no, but he’ll get over it.”

Julie knows that he’s joking -- she even feels a laugh crawl up her throat that she hastily swallows back down -- but she instead files the line under “Obnoxiously Cocky Words and Actions Observed From Luke Patterson.” Her laugh (that she’s going to pretend never existed in the first place) is substituted with an eye roll.

“You know, Julie,” oh God, getting called by her first name is even worse than when he calls her ‘Miss Molina,’ “I think everyone might be taken by now.”

“Shut up.”

“Hey, you gotta be nice to me now that you’re out of options. C’mon. Be my partner.”

He’s like a new puppy that’s starved for attention. It makes Julie’s skin crawl. 

She stays silent, thinking that he’ll shift into asshole mode any second. He surprises her instead, after clearing his throat. 

“ _ Please? _ ” He whispers, as if trying to avoid anybody hearing him grovel. The corners of her mouth quirk up. 

“Say that again, Patterson?”

He clears his throat again. 

“Julie, will you be my partner for the project, _ please?” _

She doesn’t accept because he asked nicely -- she accepts because she’s officially out of options. 

“Fine. Yes.” He excitedly curls his hands into a fist to celebrate, smiling wide, and a quick thought flashes through Julie’s head: He’s so cute. But it was gone as fast as it came, and Julie is going to ignore it entirely. Instead, she’ll kill his buzz. “But remember that you’re the one begging for a partner who hasn’t performed for this class in a year.”

“I’m not begging,” he insists. “I’m asking  _ nicely _ .”

It’s like he read her mind earlier. She hates it. She doesn’t want him to know what’s up there. 

“C’mon. Let’s go sign up for our slot.”

Luke rises from his chair and holds his hand out to her -- a gesture that would be weird from anybody, let alone the guy she’s been bickering with for over three months. His whole vibe has seemingly changed in a couple of days. Does she like it? To be determined. She’s not even sure that she trusts it. 

She looks at him, evidently suspicious, and gets up from her chair herself; pointedly brushing past his outstretched hand. Behind her, where she can’t see, he squeezes his eyes shut and sighs. 

“Julie,” Miss Harrison greets her with a smile as the curly haired girl approaches the desk. “Who’s your partner?”

“Me!” Luke calls out from a few feet away, finally walking forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Julie at Miss Harrison’s desk. The music teacher’s eyes widen, just a little, as she looks between the two of them. 

“Wow, there’s a pair I never thought I’d see.” The joke doesn’t quite land with either of the students. “I look forward to seeing what you two come up with. You’re both very talented.”

As Luke beams and gives her a strong “thank you,” Julie only provides a small, unencouraged smile. Miss Harrison finishes writing their names down next to each other on her roster:  _ Julie Molina & Luke Patterson,  _ in curly handwriting. 

“Everyone else has already picked their slot,” she mumbles, clicking through her spreadsheet of times and days. “I’ve got Monday, January 17th, beginning of class.”

“The first slot?” Julie gapes, with more energy than she’s had all period. Worry floods her face -- and it doesn’t go unnoticed by Luke. She’s too distracted by the panic of performing, first out of all of her classmates, to see realization hit Luke that performing really scares her and he doesn’t know why. 

“It’s the only thing open, Julie. Is that alright? Luke?”

They don’t really have a choice at this point. 

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Luke responds, still worryingly looking at Julie. “You gonna be okay, Jules?” She sharply turns her head towards him, frustration now refocused once again. “ _ Julie _ ,” he spits out quickly. He took the hint. 

“If it’s our only option, then yeah. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Miss Harrison nods. Her keyboard clicks under her fingers. “You two are all set. Julie, can I--”

Suddenly, the school bell rings. Students rise from their seats and collect their bags, filing out of the music room to rush to their next class. Julie notices Luke hesitate before saying “I’ll text you later,” and making a bouncy exit. 

He doesn’t even have her number -- at least, he shouldn’t. 

“Julie,” Miss Harrison reclaims the student’s attention. “I wanted to talk to you about this project. If you can’t perform, I will be obligated to remove you from the music program. I’ve pulled all of the strings I can, but Principal Lessa won’t allow this to go on.”

Julie’s gaze drops to her feet. She should have seen this coming, and honestly, she should think it’s for the best -- she doesn’t even want to make music or perform anymore. But something about leaving the music program feels so final. 

Rose wouldn’t have wanted Julie’s love of music to die with her.

“Okay,” Julie says, sincere. “I understand.”

Miss Harrison nods. 

“Okay. I’m rooting for you, Julie. I know you can do this. Luke will be a good partner for you.”

Both statements raise insurmountable doubt in Julie. First of all, she definitely does not think that she can do this; second, it is highly unlikely that Luke will be a good partner. But Miss Harrison, albeit not the encyclopedia on Julie’s emotions, has always been a cheerleader for the young girl. 

Maybe she’ll be right about one of those things. 

“Thanks, Miss Harrison.” Julie moves her head up and down quickly, and excuses herself to move onto her sixth period. 

She misses Luke standing right behind the doors outside of the music room as she takes a sharp right out of the room to her English class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just to be PERFECTLY clear: In an enemies to lovers au, anytime that a character's "skin crawls," that's DIRECT code for goosebumps, and that character is just like "ew no I hate that person! They are goosebumps of disgust!!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke and Julie finally start to work on their project -- and suddenly, everything has changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday!!! I finished this, and just couldn't wait to get it out to y'all. If you are also a reader of my Juke 5+1, then the third chapter of that will ALSO be getting published this week!!!  
> This chapter is actually a longer one, so I hope that you all are happy with it. Things are finally about to go somewhere...

Alex and Reggie sat on Luke’s bed, positively annoyed, trying to focus on their homework while their best friend paced back and forth in the small space. 

  


“You seriously try and act like I’m the dramatic one while a girl that you don’t even like is making you wear a hole in your carpet,” Alex mumbles passive-aggressively. Reggie chuckles in agreement, while Luke shoots them both a glare -- but doesn’t stop his pacing. 

  


“She hasn’t texted me back,” he says, exasperated. 

  


“What did you even say to her?” Reggie asks, slowly forgetting about the algebra homework in his lap. Alex continues to diligently finish his work as Luke furiously rubs the back of his neck, lightly tugging his own hair.   
  


“I said ‘hey.’”

  


The snort that Alex lets out could not have been repressed even if he tried. 

  


“I went out of my way to ask Carrie for Julie’s number when I don’t even support this whole stupid plan and they aren’t even friends anymore, and you fucking wrote ‘hey’? How about ‘hey, this is _Luke Patterson_ , from your music class’? You know, so she knows who the hell is texting her?”

  


Luke pales. 

  


“Shit.” 

  


As the guitarist fumbles for his phone, presumably to send another text to Julie, Alex notices tension in Reggie’s shoulders visibly building. The blonde reaches out and lays a sympathetic hand on his shoulder; not wanting him to think that Luke and himself were seriously fighting. 

  


Reggie nods in thanks. 

  


“So,” he pipes up, wanting to shift the topic, “why are you so desperate for her to text back anyways? You’re acting like-”

  


_“Don’t say it-”_

  


“You’re into her.”

  


Luke rolls his eyes and huffs. They really don’t understand the urgency of the situation here: Not only is there a massive project to work on, but now he knows that Julie’s future in the program is on the line, _and,_ most importantly, him and the boys are currently doing homework in his bedroom when they should be rocking out in a rehearsal space. 

  


(He may have omitted telling his bandmates about the second urgency. For some reason, that felt like something private that he shouldn't run around telling people.)

  


He needs Julie to text back for a variety of _very_ important reasons. 

  


“I am not into her. I am working for the future of this band, which I don’t see either of you doing, even though you’ve made it very clear that you don’t think what I’m doing is going to work.”

  


“Well we don’t really have any other ideas,” Reggie confesses, shy. Alex sends him a _will you please shut the fuck up?_ look, but it doesn’t stop him. “Your plan is bad, but it’s all we’ve got.”

  


Luke looks like he’s about to say something, but his phone vibrates in his hands and he gets so excited that he drops it onto the carpet. 

  


“Shit, she texted back!” 

  


Alex, if anyone asked him, will deny that he sat up straighter and leaned forward in anticipation to hearing what Julie texted his best friend. 

  


(But he so did. He could deny all he wanted, but both him and Reggie were cautiously interested in Luke’s developing plan -- especially since the Perfect Harmony Performance fell into his lap.)

  


“And?” Reggie urges, vocalizing his impatience. Luke opens his phone and grins widely when he sees her responding message. 

  


“‘ _Hey, how did you get my number?’_ Yes!” 

  


In a moment of weakness Alex and Reggie get on their feet to celebrate with their bandmate. They jump up and flail their arms around, pumping their fists while rushing Luke to respond. 

  


“Okay, you have to be vague,” Alex starts.

  


“Or he could tell her the truth. Good relationships always start with honesty,” Reggie offers. Alex rolls his eyes. 

  


“He’ll sound insane if he tells her how he had to go through two people to get her number.”

  


“But it also shows that he cared enough to put in that work to get it.”

  


“Alex, the endgame is to get her to like me,” Luke reminds the drummer. Reggie points at him in agreement. 

  


“Luke needs to be turning on the charm if we’re going to get anywhere.”

  


“I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation,” Alex sighs, flopping back down on the bed. “What am I doing?”

  


“You’re helping me secure us a rehearsal space. Here, let me try this: _I had to use some connections and go through a friend of a friend._ ”

  


Reggie nods his head like an excitable golden retriever as Alex screams into one of the dozen pillows on Luke’s bed. Both Luke and Reggie continue as if the drummer isn’t even there. 

  


“Sent. And now I’ll say _but forget about that. We have a project to work on. Can we meet at your place??? My parents aren’t really into music…”_

  


“You’re moving too fast,” Alex groans, his words muffled by the pillow. 

  


“Time is of the essence here, buddy.”

  


The blonde lifts his head to glare at his bandmate who is still dead-focused on the phone in his hands. 

  


“You didn’t even know what that phrase meant yesterday.”

  


“Shut up. She texted back.”

  


Reggie does a little jump as Alex makes his face comfy in the fabric of the pillow.

  


**Julie Molina:** You’re in a band and the music program at school. How are they not into music

  


Luke and Reggie give each other a panicked look. It wasn’t a solid “no” about working at her house -- which they needed to do, obviously, so that Luke could check out the studio. But he also needs her to like him and trust him so that she will eventually let him and the band actually practice in the studio regularly. 

  


_God, who let him try and follow through with such a complicated plan? He can barely keep track and he’s the one who came up with the entire thing._

  


“The hell am I supposed to say to that?”

  


Reggie shrugs. Alex remains on the bed, unmoving. 

  


“I mean, it might be too early in the relationship to talk about your mommy issues, but-”

  


“ _Mommy issues?_ I do _not_ have mommy issues,” Luke’s face contorts into disgust at Reggie’s statement. As he shakes his head, Reggie shrugs and repeats his statement. 

  


“You have mommy issues.” Even Alex’s faint voice can be heard from the pillow under Reggie’s louder volume. 

  


_“I do not!”_

  


“ _Unsaid Emily_ says otherwise, dude.”

  


Luke lets out an exasperated “oh my God” as he throws his arms up in the air, turning away from his friend. Reggie looks between Alex and the guitarist, suddenly confused. Sensing that Reggie needed some backup, Alex tucks his knees under his body and sits up.

  


“You have mommy issues, Luke. But it's chill! We all have shit with our families. Julie will understand.”

  


“I do not want to tell Julie all about my…” he gulps. _“‘Mommy issues’_ over text. Or ever, really.”

  


“Well you’ve gotta give her something, Luke.”

  


He takes a long while to contemplate -- typing out and then deleting sentences every few seconds. Luke hates this. He hates worrying about what people will think of him, he hates trying to play games, he hates that he has to deal with Julie Molina -- who is unnecessarily difficult with him most of the time. There’s confidence in him that he can soften her up, I mean, he can work anybody until they give a little. But trying to be strategic is requiring significantly more brain power than he is used to. 

  


After much contemplation, he decides on this: _Yeah… I know it sounds sus. Please believe me when I say they are very strict about me keeping my grades up if I want to “want to waste my life on a pipe dream.” Speaking of grades: Project. Rehearsal??? Is your place open tomorrow???_

  


Her response comes in noticeably quicker than he expected. 

  


**Julie Molina:** …. That sucks. I'm sorry they aren't supportive

**Julie Molina:** And yeah my house is open as long as you can tolerate my little brother for a couple hrs

  


He blinks at the phone screen dumbly. 

  


_Was that… An expression of sympathy? From Julie Molina?_

  


“Did she respond?” Reggie urges, suddenly seated next to Alex on the bed once again. Luke, still in a little bit of shock, nods absentmindedly as he types out his response. 

  


_If I can deal with Reggie for the last six years of my life, I can handle a little brother for a few hrs. Lemme know what time works for you ;)_

  


“Yeah,” he finally says to his friends. There’s still a little bit of unexpected shock that hasn’t worn off. “I’m in.”

  


\----

  


No matter how depressed she’s been, and no matter how much she dislikes his annoying antics, Julie can find it in her heart to feel a little bad for Luke Patterson. 

  


(But please do not tell anybody.)

  


And of course a part of her, a strong part of her, thinks he might be bullshitting her on the whole “my parents don’t support my choices” play. But the positive part in her, the part that tries to see a hint of good in any person, retorts with _but why would he lie about that?_

  


(The possibilities are endless: His home life is even shittier than he’s letting on, he doesn’t actually have a solid home and has been couch jumping all year, or he is actually a vampire that lives in a casket at the cemetery. None of these options, no matter how radical, actively involve him lying to her out of malicious intent to get into her house for some reason.)

  


Julie can’t imagine what it would be like if her parents didn’t like music, or didn’t support her making music when she was younger. Her mother was the driving force in her passion for music -- what if her mom had, in turn, ever tried to talk her away from the piano?

  


To any musician, she imagines, that sounds extremely frustrating. 

  


So, when Luke shows up, maybe she can try and be a little nicer to him.

  


Luke arrives, sunkissed from his skate to her house and smiling wide. 

  


“Hey,” she greets him, offering a genuine smile. His own seems to broaden significantly when he sees her in god spirits. 

  


“Hi. Ready to rock?”  
  
It’s so cheesy that she has to laugh. She’ll give Luke this one thing: He is succeeding in easing the tension between them, and he is so far making her comfortable with the knowledge of trying to play again after taking so much time away from it. Moving aside, she gestures to the entryway. 

  


“Come on in. You can just leave your skateboard on the porch.”

  


He happily obliges, and takes a tentative step into the room. She takes a moment to fully embrace his choice of attire: A sleeveless hoodie thrown atop an alarmingly thin _Rush_ tank top, and a pair of stone-washed jeans. It’s how he always dresses, but God, sometimes he looks like a tool.

  


(A hushed part of her brain insists that he makes it work.)

  


“Julie, is your friend here?”

  


She almost calls in response “we’re not friends!” but then recalls the promise she had just made to actually be nice to him. The struggle to avoid teasing him may be greater than she previously anticipated. 

  


“Yeah, he is!” Luke sends her a questioning look. “My dad,” she tells him. “He wants to meet you.”

  


“Oh! Yeah. Cool,” he responds, but his hands are shoved in his pockets clearly to avoid playing with them too much and she notices that he is suddenly very shifty. 

  


(A glimpse into his head: He was unprepared to do the whole “meet the parents” thing today. _Especially a dad._ He wishes it was a mom -- even though he doesn’t quite have the best track record with those, either. Hopefully, next time they work, he can meet Julie’s mom. For now, it’s time to turn on the charm. And try to ignore that he chose his most sleeveless outfit today.)

  


Julie’s dad comes into the entryway and smiles at his daughter and her friend. Julie notices Luke straighten up at the sight of him, and fights an amused grin. 

  


“You must be Luke,” the man says, holding out his hand to the teenager. “I’m Ray. Julie’s dad.”

  


“Nice to meet you, Sir.”

  


Julie chokes. _Oh my God._

  


“Please, call me Ray. I feel old when anyone calls me ‘sir.’”

  


Luke releases an anxious, tense laugh. 

  


“Sorry. _Ray._ It’s nice to meet you.”

  


Her dad carefully scans Luke up and down -- no doubt focusing a little longer on his bare arms. Overall, though, as far as Julie can tell, her dad is cool.

  


“You too, Luke. You guys are doing a project for music, I hear? Were you going to bring him to the studio, Julie?”

  


(In case you couldn’t tell, reader: This is when things are about to go downhill.)

  


Ray looks hopeful, and at the mention of a “studio,” Luke brightens up. He starts to look at her, too, but more expectantly. And just like that, Julie is cornered. 

  


“It’s not clean,” she deadpans, looking determinedly at her father.

  


“Oh, that’s cool, I can help move things around if you need me to,” she hears Luke say. Her stomach turns. 

  


“That’s alright,” she snaps, glancing at her partner through her peripherals. “We don’t need to use the studio.”

  


“Well, did you hear that, Julie? Luke will help you out. That would be great.” Her dad turns to Luke, as if Julie is now fully excluded from the conversation. She feels like someone has lit her on fire.“She’s been meaning to clean the studio, but just hasn’t had the time. We really want to get it back in use, because no one’s really gone in there since-”

  


_“Dad!”_

  


She doesn’t mean for her voice to come out as angry as it does, but it brings both her father and Luke’s attention back to the matter at hand. 

  


“What, mija? I’m sorry, I thought this would be a good opportunity for you to, you know, get in there and start messing around again. Dr. Turner said-”

  


Bile rises in Julie’s throat. 

  


(First he’s about to bring the conversation to her dead mom, and now he’s making sure that Luke knows she’s been seeing a therapist? Mention it all, Dad. Go ahead.)

  


“I know what she said, Dad. I just- Luke and I are just figuring out what songs to use for the project today. We aren’t playing any instruments, we aren’t singing, and we don’t need the studio.”

  


(A pounding, loud part of Luke almost wants to push it more. _We don’t want to disturb anyone, though. The studio might be good privacy, Julie. I can help clean up. It’s alright._ But a bigger part of him can see the anguish in her face, and her hands curling into fists at her sides, and the way she’s breathing heavily out of frustration. She looks like she’s genuinely upset -- more upset than he’s ever made her. It probably feels like it's two against one; and she needs to know he’s on her side.)

  


“Julie’s totally right,” he pipes up, stirring her out of her red reverie. “We’re really just messing around with songs today. We don’t need anything special. Maybe next time.”

  


The sigh that escapes her is uncontrollable. Finally, her and Luke watch Ray nod, and retreat. 

  


“Okay, I understand. Maybe next time for sure. It’s there if you need it. Let me know if I can get you guys anything.”  
  
Julie watches as he sends her an apologetically alarmed look, but continues to return back to his office. Her hands uncurl, and she runs them over her face and through her hair.

  


“You OK?” Luke asks, and she notices his feet approaching closer to her side. She takes another deep breath. 

  


“Yeah, I-” Her words get caught in her throat. “God, I’m so sorry about that. Thank you for getting him off of it.”

  


“No worries. Parents can be like that sometimes.” The two of them pause, and the air is awkwardly tense. “Is everything-”

  


“We can go up to my room and get started,” she cuts him off. She does not want to have this conversation, not now, and _not_ with Luke Patterson. Sticking hot pokers in her eyes sounds a little more appealing. “We can just play some songs and figure out what sounds good from there.”

  


Luke gestures to the stairs, already recovered from the uncomfortable talk with Ray. 

  


“Lead the way, Boss.”

  


(Julie cannot tell a lie: She does not hate when he calls her “Boss.” She might request that he call her that from now on, as a matter of fact.)

  


There’s a funny feeling in Julie’s stomach that comes with the action of leading a teenage boy (a cute teenage boy, with pretty biceps and bright eyes) up to her bedroom where they are about to work behind closed doors. Of course, Julie Molina wouldn’t touch Luke Patterson _like that_ with a ten-foot pole --- but it’s just a feeling she gets as they climb the staircase. 

  


“I like your room,” Luke comments a moment after she opens the door. “You got a window seat? Sick.”

  


He jumps towards the bench perched against her window and instantly pulls a pillow into his lap. 

  


“Make yourself at home then,” Julie grumbles -- but with a smile on her face. She makes herself comfy on her bed, and both of them pull out their phones. 

  


_“Okay,”_ they say in unison, drawing laughs from them both. “You go first,” Luke insists. He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees and focusing on Julie like she’s the only thing in her room worth looking at. She’s never been given this kind of attention from somebody before; with the exception of Flynn, her best friend, and Dr. Turner (although that was not the positive kind of attention). 

  


“Okay. Um, I was thinking we hook our phones up to my speaker, and just start combing through playlists of our favorites, and try to think about which songs could go together pretty well and what works best with our instruments?”

  


Luke nods in agreement. 

  


“Sounds good. I have a few I was thinking about, I don’t know if you thought about it at all…?”

  


“Yeah, I had a couple, but wanted to see what you had. Go ahead.”

  


Luke connects his phone to the bluetooth speaker in Julie’s room, and music instantly starts pulsing from it -- Julie recognizes the song as _Champagne Supernova._

  


“Oh my God, I love this song!” Reveling in the sounds of a song she hasn’t heard for a long time, she flops back onto her bed; allowing herself to be taken away by the music. 

  


(She misses Luke’s little smile when he hears that they might have similar tastes in music.)

  


Seven minutes later, the song starts to fade out, and _Hot For Teacher_ beats from the speaker instead. Julie sits up with a start.

  


“I am not singing this to our class. That might be an automatic F.”

  


Luke fumbles to turn his phone on and pause the song. 

  


“Sorry. I just clicked on _Champagne Supernova_. That was queued up right after.”

  


He’s blushing a little, and Julie never thought that she would see Luke Patterson ever be anywhere close to embarrassed, but here he was. In her room, on her window seat, being so not annoying that she wondered _who the hell was this stranger in front of her and what did they do to Luke?_ She has only felt like punching him once in the last twenty minutes, and that was when he offered to help her clean up the studio. 

  


Speaking of, what-

  


“You wanna play something next? We can take turns?” He interrupts her train of thought, holding his phone out to her with Spotify open. She slowly takes it and begins typing in the song she had in mind. 

  


“Why did you offer to help clean the studio?” She thinks aloud as she presses her thumbs to his phone screen. He straightens, and clears his throat. 

  


(Hmmm.)

  


“Well, you said it wasn’t clean, and your dad really seemed to want you to use it.”

  


“Yeah, but like… I think today is the longest we’ve ever gone without arguing. That’s quite the generous offer for someone who you argue with all of the time.”

  


(The underlying question is there: _Is there something you need to tell me?_ )

  


“I…” He starts, calculating his answer. “Maybe I want to stop arguing all the time.”

  


(Whoa. Was that-?)  
  


It’s not a grand statement -- or it wouldn’t be, to anyone else. For Julie Molina and Luke Patterson, it’s a lot to unpack, but his voice is so soft that it practically floated through the air like a feather. It had a sweetness, a care to it that was foreign. Julie, who was previously just staring blankly at his phone, ready to click on her song, freezes. She lifts her head to look at him, and the air gets caught in her throat--

  


He’s looking at her. Staring at her, intently, more intense than she’s ever felt. His eyes are so green, and she can see the rims of emerald around his dilated pupils -- she can only imagine hers look the same. For a moment, a brief moment, she is simultaneously not far enough away and not close enough to him. She can feel her stomach react in a way that isn’t anxiety, or fear, but it’s dizzying, whatever it is. 

  


It takes her a minute before she’s fully ready to exhale. 

  


“Maybe I’m not opposed to that.”

  


The small smile that he gives her, clearly happy with her response, sends the dizziness straight from her stomach to her head.

  


(She hates herself for it.)

  


The ground seems to have shifted underneath her, and somehow, things feel different -- she couldn't say what. But it's new.

  


And as she presses play on _Finally // beautiful stranger_ , and listens to the first lyric -- _your eyes, so crystal green; sour apple baby but you taste so sweet_ \-- she hates herself a little more, because she cannot say with full confidence that she didn’t choose the song on purpose. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs mentioned:  
> Champagne Supernova by Oasis  
> Hot For Teacher by Van Halen (RIP Eddie :()  
> Finally // beautiful stranger by Halsey aka THE SONG WHERE THE FIC TITLE CAME FROM LAHAKHE IT MIGHT BE AN IMPORTANT SONG Y'ALL PAY ATTENTION
> 
> Thank you all so much for being here and reading this fic!!! Things are finally starting to kick up, thank god. I really hope you all stick with this fic, and please offer any feedback that you would like. Your comments make my day. I love you!!!


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